Do we hold others accountable for our shortcomings? As a teacher I have often heard that a particular student may learn better if I taught him/her better. This is quite possibly true and it is why I strive to not only impart the necessary knowledge but also inspire my students to do more. A recent article from Sammiches and Psych Meds speaks to this point. The author states that "students need a teacher who is equipped to see why curriculum is relevant and how to apply it to their daily lives and futures". Click on the link above to see the entire article, as it is very good.

A recent conversation I was having on Marketwatch.com about the city employees in Detroit having their pensions cut, inspired this post.

It is, ultimately, the responsibility of the individual to ensure the outcome they are striving for occurs. That is, do not rely on others to subsidize your expectations. I believe it to be a very unfortunate thing that people are losing pensions or seeing the balances in their 401k's dwindle due to bad decision making. However, isn't this something that we should prepare for? Isn't the possibility of misfortune, however slight, something that should be in the review of our minds eye?

So...If I am striving to do my best for myself and those around me by going above and beyond, doesn't it hold true that others should as well? I believe that if we all increased our levels of responsibility, then collectively the world would be a better place. Instead of doing for others...first do for yourself. If I am responsible enough to "do for myself" and to "take care of myself" then the good from that will spill over towards those around me. This rationale can also be applied to the current debate on raising the minimum wage. As a society we want to have compassion for those around us. This need for compassion leads us to raise the minimum wage, thereby causing other jobs to be lost. However, If we encouraged people who are making minimum wage to increase and improve their skillset, they would have the ability to move on to better paying jobs without negative consequences to those around them.

I completely agree with the need to increase self responsibility. I think we live in a society driven by the need to blame others for our own shortcomings. If we embraced personal responsibility more, we'd be a better oiled machine as a whole. Thanks for the shout out!